Vanishing World
by Exquisiteliltart
Summary: Mulder and Scully go to Storybrooke to investigate the magical town and the unseasonable cold, and meet the unconventional townspeople trying to keep their secrets hidden.


"Where did you hear about this…town?" Scully paced back and forth in the small basement office, her arms crossed firmly in front of her. She quirked her eyebrow as Mulder explained their latest X-file.

"From an anonymous tip that came in on the bureaus crime line, but here's the thing everywhere else in Maine it's summer, but guess what season it is in Storybrooke?" Mulder was giddy; he pointed at the report animatedly and squirmed in his chair rocking back and forth with enthusiasm.

Scully heaved a heavy sigh and sat down opposite Mulder, resting her elbows on the desk and running her hands through her hair, "We've seen this before….meteorological abnormalities. This should be a case for Environmental affairs to research. I just don't see the X-file."

Mulder sprung from his chair and ran over to his slide projector. Fumbling with the ancient clicker and slowly loading the slides he got his presentation ready to plead his case. "There's more, Scully. You'll like this. Reports from people who have attempted to visit this town. It's not on any map and when you drive through, you really drive through like it doesn't exist."

A blurry image that displayed a picture of a green road sign that said "Entering Storybrooke" appeared, and Mulder clicked and the slide changed to a stretch of road with no sign. Scully was unimpressed, and rolled her eyes. "What am I looking at exactly?"

"This town…it is magical or it's fueled by some sort of Harry Potter-esque cloaking spell to conceal its existence, but only from non-believers. It seems the belief in the town is enough to get you to see it," Mulder clicked off the projector as those were the only two slides he had, and crossed over to the desk to open the top drawer. He grabbed a pile of papers and slapped them down on the desk.

"What's this? Tell me we are not going to Maine?" Scully whined and tilted her head, looking at the plane tickets. "Where are our rental car requisition forms and hotel confirmations?"

"We're flying into Boston, actually. That's the thing about going somewhere that doesn't exist: you can't book in advance. Get your bags packed, we're heading out today. Dress warm."

…

Storybrooke, Maine. Town Line 2:37PM

The temperature had remained at a warm 75 degrees even as they drove closer to their destination. Based on the information Mulder had he had plugged the coordinates into the GPS and the guiding voice announced they had arrived. He turned off the engine and flung the car door open as he hopped out of the vehicle.

Scully made her way out a bit more slowly, and looked around, "I see trees…Mulder, you did not say that we would be hiking through a forest. That never seems to go so well for us."

Scully crossed her arms and took a few steps forward to stretch her legs. She felt an icy chill and stopped. Curiously, she walked backwards and was once again in the warm sunshine.

"This should be it. The town should be here, Scully," Mulder studied a map he had brought along with the files and limited data he had gathered about the town of Storybrooke.

"Come here, Mulder," Scully motioned his over to where she was standing, directly on the town line: half in the cold and half in the sun. She nodded for him to stand directly in front of her. "Do you feel that?"

"Woo! Like walking into a deep freeze," Mulder warmed his hands together and took another step into the cold. He looked up and blinked in surprise, a giant mountain of ice towered before him, blocking the road. "Scully, what would do for a Klondike bar?"

"Mulder, maybe this cold snap is due to polar winds coming in from the ocean," She waved her arms as different logical explanations ran through her mind. Mulder stepped behind her and gave her a gentle nudge on her lower back.

"Look," he whispered as he directed her gaze to the previously unseen ice wall.

Her mouth fell open and her brow furrowed as she tried to rationalize what she was seeing. Her visible breath came out in a rush as she stuttered, "How the hell did that get there?"

"I don't know, but this case just got a whole lot more interesting. Come on," Mulder headed over to the wall to investigate, it seemed to be solid. Scully touched the freezing, shiny ice taking estimations in her head as to how tall and wide it appeared to be. "How do you explain this?"

"Perhaps platonic movement causing sub ground glacier to erupt and- and. I don't know, Mulder," Scully breathed out the rest of words in a huff finding herself at a loss and opened a packet of autopsy tools she kept in her coat to take a chip sample from the wall. "It's completely solid. There's no way to get through."

Just as she said it, Mulder took out his flashlight and explored the perimeter, he disappeared into the wall, and Scully ran after him, "Mulder, come back out here, that cave could be unstable and it could collapse on you."

Mulder's voice echoed from inside, "I think this tunnel goes all the way through."

Against her better judgment, Scully took one last glance at the sunny day just behind them and entered the ice cave after Mulder. She caught up to him, leaning over as the tunnel narrowed and dodging long ice crystals that were sharp as spikes hanging from the ceiling and protruding from the ground.

"Pretty wild, isn't it?" Mulder grinned toothily and waggled his eyebrows as Scully pointed her flashlight carefully and watched her step as she walked carefully over the slippery surface. A faint light shown at the other end and Mulder announced they were almost through. He got down on his knees and crawled through the ever narrowing cave, shivering from the cold.

"Reminds me of that time on the spaceship in Antarctica, remember that?"

"Not really," Scully mumbled as she shivered and wished they were out of the cave. Mulder wedged himself through and rolled out on the road, he scrambled to his knees and grabbed Scully's arms helping her through to the other side a bit more gracefully then he had made it.

"Are you in one piece?" Mulder looked her over with concern, brushing loose snow out of Scully's hair.

She patted herself down, and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, but now that we're through, what about our luggage and our rental car? My heavy coat and gloves are in there and I have a feeling I might need them."

"We're in a town full of magic. We'll come back for our car and go skiing later when we find out what is going on around here, and where that ice wall came from. It can't be too far into town, let's go," Mulder grabbed Scully's red, freezing hands and held them in his own, and blew on them to warm her up.

They started to hike down the deserted road, and Scully cracked her neck and dragged herself along, "This better be worth it, Mulder."

…

When they finally hiked over a hill and came into town, nothing looked suspect except for the large drifts of snow in an otherwise normal small town. Mulder spotted Granny's diner and took Scully's arm, "We gotta get warmed up. Maybe the townies can direct us to a hotel and then we can get in touch with local law enforcement."

They entered the diner and everyone turned to stare, which was a feeling both agents were accustomed to when they investigated small towns. Mulder cleared his throat and smiled at an angry looking bearded man, wearing a red stocking cap before taking a seat at the counter and moving his trench coat out of the way.

Scully followed suit and sat down, noticing the tall, slender waitress wearing an outfit most decidedly for a warmer climate. She greeted the two with a friendly smile and brushed her long dark hair over her shoulder, "Welcome to Granny's, I'm Ruby. What can I get you two?"

Mulder whipped out his badge, showing it to the surprised waitress and stated, "I'm Special Agent Mulder, this is my partner, Special Agent Scully, and I'll have sweet potato pie."

He looked to Scully, who smiled tightly, "Um, just a hot coffee, thanks."

"Right away. So are you here on some important F.B.I business or just passing through?" Ruby placed her elbows on the counter and leaned into meet Mulder's eyes with a flirtatious smile.

"Well, actually, we're here to investigate the weather and the ice mountain that appears to be surrounding the town. Can you tell me what's going on? Or how long that ice wall has been there?" Mulder asked as Ruby poured a cup of coffee and moved over to the display case to get Mulder his pie.

"Oh, uh... I'm not the best person to ask about all of that. Just a waitress," Ruby mocked herself and grinned. Scully rolled her eyes indiscreetly and checked her phone for messages. Mulder dug into his slice of pie and took a big bite as he listened intently. He reached for his wallet and pulled out one of his business cards. "Well, if you think of anything you want to tell me, just give me a call. My partner and I are planning to figure this weather anomaly out. Can you point us to the nearest motel?"

Ruby snatched the card out of his hand and scanned it, "Well, my Granny runs a bed and breakfast. Some of our guests are more long term, and with this weather all of the people who live in the woods—I mean like the campers, yeah... well, they have taken up all of the rooms."

Scully took a drink from her coffee and enjoyed the warmth as it slid down her throat. Ruby glanced at Scully sizing her up, "Did you just need one room or do you prefer separate?"

"Two," Scully interjected, calmly placing a few dollars on the counter and directing her attention to Mulder.

"I mean maybe I could see if we could open up a room, that's all. Um...Otherwise, this is a really friendly town, I'm sure we can find someone to take you in."

"Mulder, maybe we should just go back to the car and drive back to Boston tonight. This is probably just a case of lake effect snow and atypical wind patterns. Nothing else seems out of the ordinary around here."

Taking Ruby's hand, Mulder took back his business card and smiled charmingly, "Let me just write down my personal cell phone number. Call anytime. Day or night."

"Thanks," Ruby smirked and turned around when the cook called an order up.

Scully took long strides across the diner, eager to get back to the car. She wouldn't admit it, but the town gave her a strange feeling like unseen forces stirring up trouble. She looked behind her and saw Mulder heading toward the back with a strange man. She leaned against the door and crossed her arms in annoyance to wait.

…

"I couldn't help overhear that you are here to investigate. I need to warn you about this town."

"I need to warn you about that whiskey breath," Mulder stuck out his lip and grimaced. "Who are you?"

"The name is Sid—erm, Mr. Glass, and this town isn't what you think," he said dramatically, sloshing his tall glass of whiskey as he gestured with his hands.

Mulder seemed amused and played along, "And what exactly do I think about this town?"

Sidney paused in thought, before shaking his head and continuing, "I think you had better go- you and your pretty partner better get out of here. You are not meant to be in this town, it's dangerous for outsiders."

"Okay, well, thanks for the tip, Mr. Glass. Now if you can point me toward the police station, I'd like to check in with the Sheriff of this town."


End file.
